"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." There are no shortage of ideas of what it means to live a ‘good life.’ In a series of teaching known as the Beatitudes, Jesus is inviting people into a way of living that will not only produce true flourishing in the here and now, but also in the age to come. This Sunday, we begin a series in which we will deeply explore each blessing of these endlessly rich statements of Jesus.

Respond:

• Jesus says “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In what ways do you feel your heart is being pulled in different directions?

• God is calling us to a single-hearted devotion to him. Allow the Spirit to disrupt the ways in which you may be tempted to only partially seek God.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” What is life in God’s kingdom and under his rule like? Jesus is inviting people into a whole new way of living that not only produces true flourishing in the here and now, but also in the age to come. He does this while declaring some of the most counter-rational statements on what it means to be happy. Blessed are the merciful.

Respond:

• How has God been merciful to you? When you think of the lavish grace displayed by God in your life, go and extend it on others. For what in your life do you need mercy?

• Who do you struggle to forgive or to show mercy towards?

“Praise God that you bear that name.” Those are the words of Peter written to a people who were greatly suffering. What does it mean to bear the name “Christian?” What does it mean to allow the Holy Spirit to work through people to be Christ’s spokesperson, his intercessors, and his servants in the world today?

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” We continue to draw from the deep well of the beatitudes where Jesus teaches what life under the reign of God looks like. What does it mean to have a deep yearning for things to be right?

Respond:

• Righteousness and justice are paired often in the Hebrew Bible. The word ‘righteousness’ as used by Jesus can be interpreted as righteousness and justice. How does this pairing throughout the Hebrew Bible and the Greek word itself bring a fuller understanding to what Jesus meant?

• Cultural scripts tend to dominate our imagination and shape our desires. Desire itself is not bad, but our aims are directly influenced by our desires.

  • What do you long and yearn for?

  • What practices can help us shift towards seeking first God’s kingdom and righteousness?

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.” What is life in God’s kingdom and under his rule like? Jesus is inviting people into a whole new way of living that not only produces true flourishing in the here and now, but also in the age to come. He does this while declaring some of the most counter-rational statements on what it means to be happy. Blessed are those who mourn.

Respond:

• Jesus promises that all who mourn will be comforted. In what ways may we miss out on the comfort offered by God because we refuse to mourn and as a result carry unresolved grief, sorrow or pain?

• When you encounter feelings of grief and sadness, what distractions do you turn to or what emotions surface that may prevent you from mourning?

• What in your personal story, your circumstances, and in our country and world calls for mourning in the people of God?

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” What is life in God’s kingdom and under his rule like? Jesus is inviting people into a way of living that will not only produce true flourishing in the here and now, but also in the age to come. He does so while declaring some of the most counter-rational statements on what it means to be happy.

Respond:

• Do you tend to see the Beatitudes as a list of attributes to pursue? If so, how might the context, culture and reflection of this passage challenge that idea?

• The Beatitudes were rooted in an ancient Jewish tradition. Some teachers taught about ways to flourish in the world that seemed to be contrary to what Jesus taught. What are some beatitudes that may be taught from Forbes, wall street elites? Do they align with the good news or flourishing that Jesus announces? If not, how might you be able to announce the good news in the way you live, speak and befriend others?

• As you wrestle with ““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The Spirit can reshape and cause a reversal in our perspective. Ask the Holy Spirit to apply this beatitude as a lens through which you see the people around you.

Trinity Sunday

There are no shortage of ideas of what it means to live a ‘good life.’ In a series of teaching known as the Beatitudes, Jesus is inviting people into a way of living that will not only produce true flourishing in the here and now, but also in the age to come. This Sunday, we begin a series in which we will deeply explore each blessing of these endlessly rich statements of Jesus.

Respond:

• Eugene Peterson warns that crowds are more dangerous than drugs. Jesus says “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”

  • Reflect on your deepest desires - Are they shaped by the seemingly universal values of the ‘crowd’: greed, ego, lust etc or are they shaped by the person and characteristics of Jesus?

• In Matthew, Jesus’ public teaching included his disciples and a wider crowd as the audience. Jesus’ teaching was an invitation for everyone present, for those who had ears to hear they were invited to move from the ‘crowd’ to a follower of Jesus.

  • In what ways is the Holy Spirit inviting you to move from crowd to disciple? From slavery to sabbath? From self-centeredness to humility etc.?

Pentecost Sunday

One of the temptations of Pentecost Sunday is to honour the story as an event of the past. How can we begin to see and even anticipate Pentecost as a continual reality? In John 14, Jesus is speaking to people who are anxious about navigating an uncertain future, into that moment He promises to send the Holy Spirit. What are those moments where the Spirit has called us into new peace, postures, and possibilities?

Respond:

• The Acts 2 account is a foundational event for the church. If Pentecost celebrates new beginnings then perhaps we should learn to anticipate it as a recurring event.

  • How can you cultivate a deeper expectation for a filling of the Holy Spirit in your own life and story?

  • What are the moments (past and present) in your story where the Spirit has called you into a new and uncertain chapter?

• By the power of the Spirit, followers of Jesus will do “even greater things than these” What if we could take Jesus at his word? What if this is true?

  • Ask the Spirit - what is possible in and through our church family? What does creativity look like in our context?

• In the Scriptures, we see that the Holy Spirit rests on you, as a guide, a teacher, a helper, a strengthener, a comforter, an advocate and more.

  • What definition would use in your experience? What noun do you need in this season?  God is inviting you to ask the Spirit for what you need.

Eastertide

The last portion of Revelation overflows with hope and provides a beautiful image of God bringing renewal to everything. This passage challenges widely held misunderstandings of heaven.

Respond:

• People tend to live out the dominant story in their life. It could be a story that you tell yourself or a story that has been handed down to you. In the Bible, there are people who are so captivated by the story of God that they seem to dwell as much with God as with this world.

  • What is the dominant story/script in your own life?

• John of Patmos looks with anticipation to a day when God fully dwells with his people and the work of renewal comes to completion. 

  • How does this vision give you hope in your specific circumstances and challenges here and now?

• What practices do we need to put in place in order to more fully dwell in the hope that God has for us?

Eastertide

Here, in eastertide, we see the breath of God breathed out through Jesus making new people out of the disciples through the Spirit. Through the people of God, Jesus offers new life to the world.

Respond:

• The disciples are thick with grief, paralyzed by hopelessness, fear and maybe even regret.

  • What emotions and feelings are you carrying into Easter?

• What are you afraid of? What fears tempt you hide?

  • In what way might the risen Christ be speaking into your circumstance today?

• Through his resurrection from the dead, Christ has victory over death itself. Christ accomplished the (vertical) reconciliation between God and man. The disciples of Jesus are to lavish this peace and (horizontal) reconciliation unto the world. In what ways might God be calling you to restored friendships in your own relationships and wider justice?

• Where is the Triune God calling you to engage the world redemptively in all areas of culture? How has he uniquely equipped you with your story, training and gifting?

Eastertide

The early church’s lifestyle testified to the risen Christ. How? How can we live the same kind of lives today?

Holy Week

Christ is Risen! This Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The gospel of Luke honours the challenge of faith but invites us to a whole new kind of life, one that requires letting go of the old one.

Respond:

• The women are coming into this Easter Sunday with feelings of thick grief, the disciples grieving and potentially feeling guilt for abandoning Jesus.

  • With the exhaustion of pandemic, the despair of wars, or the growing distance in relationships - What emotions and circumstances do you carry into Easter?

• Take some time to reflect on your Lenten experience? What did the Spirit form in your character leading up to Easter? What did you hope for but are left feeling disappointment? Take both to God in prayer.

• The women and the disciples were dealing with thick grief and lament. The empty tomb itself did not bring immediate joy but rather questions, concerns and even fear of a thief robbing the grave. In what ways does Easter leave you like Peter ‘wondering what had happened’?

• What “prison stone” in your story can be rolled away in light of the resurrection?

Lent

In John 8, we are presented with a messy scene. This is a tale of how religion can be wrongfully wielded to harm others rather than setting them free. A woman stands humiliated in full display before the crowd, the religious accusers are setting a trap for Jesus. The angry crowd have stones in hand ready to execute her judgment. While others learn to drop the stone in light of Jesus. Who are we in this story? Jesus reminds us why Love is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus reminds us that new life and turning from sins flows from the grace of the God who saves.

Respond:

• “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

  • We don’t know the end of her story, but Jesus provided an invitation to true life.

  • Reflect on moments where God set in motion transformative seasons in your life.

• “The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

  • If asked in that setting, would you have remained silent? Jesus had the courage to respond against the angry crowd and extend grace to the ‘least’ .

  • What has been the result when the Spirit has given you the courage to challenge ways of thinking that harm others?

• The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees condemned the woman until Jesus’ disruptive remarks brought awareness to the fact that their lives also miss the mark.

  • Have there been times when your awareness of your own shortcomings has helped you extend grace to people around you? Think specifically.

Lent

The people of Israel were the people of God, the story of Naaman is an example of how God goes beyond the lines humans draw and the boundaries that we erect. This is a story of grace, humility, healing, new humanity and the dividing walls being brought down in God’s power.

Respond:

• Naaman’s journey to healing and wholeness encountered two common obstacles. 1) His ego - he almost turned away from healing because of his ego 2) His opinions that were contrary to God’s instruction.

  • In what ways do these obstacles surface in your own life? Have you found your own opinions and ego becoming a barrier for what God has been trying to cultivate in your life?

• What can we learn from how God works in the story of Naaman? How does each character (King of Aram, Naaman, Naaman’s wife, young maid, king of Israel, Elisha, Elisha’s messenger, Naaman’s officers etc.) uniquely participate or restrict what God had planned?

  • What does this story teach us about how God chooses to act and restore the world?

Lent

As the season of Lent continues, Jesus masterfully tells the story about the reckless and lavish love of the Father in Luke 15. Frederick Buechner says if we want to truly hear the stories of the Bible, we must hear them as stories about ourselves. The invitation is to imagine ourselves in this story as it perfectly captures the personal experience of God that is available to us.

Respond:

• Like the sons in the parable, each of us has a story. What is the narrative you find yourself rehearsing and repeating on loop?

• Reflect on a time where you “came to your senses.” Give thanks to God and for all those around you that were able to help you identify things and walk alongside you.

• Whose story do you trust? Do you trust the story you’ve rehearsed your whole life? The story that others say about you? Or do you trust the one that the Father says about you?

• The artist illustrates a Ukrainian mother having her feet washed by Jesus, another image shows a Russian soldier receiving the same love, she adds: “I don’t get to decide who is worthy or ready to sit on that stool.” Take some time to ask God about how he feels about the people you deem unworthy to sit on the stool. In what ways is the Spirit calling us to greater reckless love?

Lent

What stands at the center of spiritual practices? The prophet Isaiah’s audience was committed in their religious devotion to God, however their practices did not unsettle their hearts. Isaiah wants their love for neighbour to match the heart of God himself. In this Lent season, can we increasingly take Isaiah’s words to heart, to become agents of healing and work towards the world that is possible through the transforming power of God’s love?

Respond:

• When you engage in spiritual disciplines, do you yearn that God will notice the sacrifice that you are making and give you special favour?

  • Do you find yourself feeling ‘better than’ those who are not doing the same practice?

  • Ask the Spirit to reveal your heart and motives and for the grace to recalibrate.

• God’s problem was not their fasting, nor was it their sincerity in the acts of worship, it was that their hearts and lives did not exhibit God’s compassion.

  • Do your spiritual practices lead you to become a more understanding, compassionate and generous person?

• “The celebration of Sabbath is an act of both resistance and alternative. It is resistance because it is a visible insistence that our lives are not defined by the production and consumption of commodity goods.” - Walter Brueggemann

  • Have you adopted the practice of setting aside a day each week for rest, renewal, relationships and for delighting in God’s presence?

Lent

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is a season of repentance and reflection, Christians are invited to put to death worldly attachments in order to draw closer to God. This week, we enter into Jesus’ wilderness experience in Luke 4. While his desires and physical needs were important, his love and commitment to God was greater still.

Respond:

• What if the deeper threat of temptation isn’t being tempted toward a certain act but the gradual progression of being tempted away from our truest identity - as someone deeply loved by, and belonging to God?

  • Have you thought of testing/temptation in this way?

• Jesus’ responds to the lies of the devil with Scripture. The devil often twists and undermines truth, what often sounds truthful but turn out to be lies?

  • How has time invested in God’s Word helped you unveil lies from all sources?

  • Can you speak to the evil in our mind and hearts? Can you speak to the tempter?

• Richard Rohr says “They are sequentially the misuse of practical everyday power, the misuse of religious power, and the misuse of political power. These are the constant tragedies that keep defeating humanity.”

  • In this season of Lent, consider how the devil appeals to your appetites and giving up those things that we cling to in order to draw closer to God.

Transfiguration Sunday

This week, we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday. At the transfiguration, the glory of God in the person of Jesus was revealed to Peter, James and John. This was a moment that prepared Jesus for his passion and death, as we celebrate his transfiguration; God prepares us for our Lenten journey to the cross and the empty tomb of Easter.

Respond:

• What disciplines do you practice to intentionally seek out God’s Presence? What practices can you consider adopting during Lent (fasting, time in solitude and silence, lectio divina etc.)?

• Can you think of specific ‘God moments’ where you encountered the glory of Jesus in such a way that it forever changed the course of your life?

  • Take some time to thank God for those moments and how much he has changed your heart/character.

• As we move toward Lent, spend time to reflect on what you find yourself tempted to cling to (substance, ego, alternate validation, numbing entertainment, greed etc.) and how do you practice letting go of it?

Epiphanytide

Saturated in this letter is a longing for Christians to grasp a deep mystery: you died and were raised with Christ and the real ‘you’, who you truly are; is now hidden with the king. Rather than coasting with the flow of surrounding culture, there is a new nature to put on - the life of Jesus Christ where love is the crowning attribute.

Respond:

• Am I being de-formed or conformed to the patterns of the world? Or am I being transformed by the renewing of the mind?

• In what ways have you seen Jesus shift your priorities to align more closely with God’s heart?

  • What habits can you incorporate into your life that move toward setting your sight and heart on the realities of heaven?

• As Paul lists attributes that need to be put to death, which of these habits does the Spirit highlight in your own life? 

  • What Christ-like attributes of the ‘new nature’ has God cultivated in your life? Celebrate those elements of your story and make note of all God has done for you.

Epiphanytide

We can know about Jesus, understand His Life, story and purpose. Recognize the Love, Good Works even His atoning work on the Cross for us. But we are expected to not just know it, but to Live It! And there are ways to know if we are succeeding, simple but solid ways.